Kubernetes (kubeadm, kubelet, kubectl) Installation on different Linux Distros

Ubuntu & Debian Based

These instructions are for Kubernetes v1.37.

1. Update the apt package index and install packages needed to use the Kubernetes apt repository:

   sudo apt-get update
   # apt-transport-https may be a dummy package; if so, you can skip that package
   sudo apt-get install -y apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl gpg
   

2. Download the public signing key for the Kubernetes package repositories. The same signing key is used for all repositories so you can disregard the version in the URL:

   # If the directory `/etc/apt/keyrings` does not exist, it should be created before the curl command, read the note below.
   # sudo mkdir -p -m 755 /etc/apt/keyrings
   curl -fsSL https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.37/deb/Release.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/kubernetes-apt-keyring.gpg
   

Note:

In releases older than Debian 12 and Ubuntu 22.04, directory /etc/apt/keyrings does not exist by default, and it should be created before the curl command.

3. Add the appropriate Kubernetes apt repository. Please note that this repository have packages only for Kubernetes 1.37; for other Kubernetes minor versions, you need to change the Kubernetes minor version in the URL to match your desired minor version (you should also check that you are reading the documentation for the version of Kubernetes that you plan to install).

   # This overwrites any existing configuration in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kubernetes.list
   echo 'deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/kubernetes-apt-keyring.gpg] https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.37/deb/ /' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kubernetes.list
   

4. Update the apt package index, install kubelet, kubeadm and kubectl, and pin their version:

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install -y kubelet kubeadm kubectl
   sudo apt-mark hold kubelet kubeadm kubectl
   

5. (Optional) Enable the kubelet service before running kubeadm:

   sudo systemctl enable --now kubelet

Redhat Based

1. Set SELinux to permissive mode:

   These instructions are for Kubernetes 1.37.

   # Set SELinux in permissive mode (effectively disabling it)
   sudo setenforce 0
   sudo sed -i 's/^SELINUX=enforcing$/SELINUX=permissive/' /etc/selinux/config
   

Caution:

• Setting SELinux in permissive mode by running setenforce 0 and sed ... effectively disables it. This is required to allow containers to access the host filesystem; for example, some cluster network plugins require that. You have to do this until SELinux support is improved in the kubelet.
• You can leave SELinux enabled if you know how to configure it but it may require settings that are not supported by kubeadm.

2. Add the Kubernetes yum repository. The exclude parameter in the repository definition ensures that the packages related to Kubernetes are not upgraded upon running a normal dnf update as there's a special procedure that must be followed for upgrading Kubernetes. Please note that this repository has packages only for Kubernetes 1.37; for other Kubernetes minor versions, you need to change the Kubernetes minor version in the URL to match your desired minor version (you should also check that you are reading the documentation for the version of Kubernetes that you plan to install).

   # This overwrites any existing configuration in /etc/yum.repos.d/kubernetes.repo
   cat <<EOF | sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/kubernetes.repo
   [kubernetes]
   name=Kubernetes
   baseurl=https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.37/rpm/
   enabled=1
   gpgcheck=1
   gpgkey=https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.37/rpm/repodata/repomd.xml.key
   exclude=kubelet kubeadm kubectl cri-tools kubernetes-cni
   EOF
   

3. Install kubelet, kubeadm and kubectl:

   For systems with DNF4 (Fedora < 41, RHEL/CentOS < 10)

   sudo dnf install -y kubelet kubeadm kubectl --disableexcludes=kubernetes
   

   For Fedora systems with DNF5:

   sudo dnf install -y kubelet kubeadm kubectl --setopt=disable_excludes=kubernetes
   

   For RHEL/CentOS 10 and later, to avoid pulling in iptables as a dependency:

   sudo dnf install -y kubelet kubeadm kubectl --setopt=disable_excludes=kubernetes --setopt=install_weak_deps=False
   

4. (Optional) Enable the kubelet service before running kubeadm:

   sudo systemctl enable --now kubelet

Arch Based & Other Linux Systesm based

Install CNI plugins (required for most pod network):

CNI_PLUGINS_VERSION="v1.3.0"
ARCH="amd64"
DEST="/opt/cni/bin"
sudo mkdir -p "$DEST"
curl -L "https://github.com/containernetworking/plugins/releases/download/${CNI_PLUGINS_VERSION}/cni-plugins-linux-${ARCH}-${CNI_PLUGINS_VERSION}.tgz" | sudo tar -C "$DEST" -xz

Define the directory to download command files:

Note:

The DOWNLOAD_DIR variable must be set to a writable directory. If you are running Flatcar Container Linux, set DOWNLOAD_DIR="/opt/bin".

DOWNLOAD_DIR="/usr/local/bin"
sudo mkdir -p "$DOWNLOAD_DIR"

Optionally install crictl (required for interaction with the Container Runtime Interface (CRI), optional for kubeadm):

CRICTL_VERSION="v1.31.0"
ARCH="amd64"
curl -L "https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/cri-tools/releases/download/${CRICTL_VERSION}/crictl-${CRICTL_VERSION}-linux-${ARCH}.tar.gz" | sudo tar -C $DOWNLOAD_DIR -xz

Install kubeadm, kubelet and add a kubelet systemd service:

RELEASE="$(curl -sSL https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)"
ARCH="amd64"
cd $DOWNLOAD_DIR
sudo curl -L --remote-name-all https://dl.k8s.io/release/${RELEASE}/bin/linux/${ARCH}/{kubeadm,kubelet}
sudo chmod +x {kubeadm,kubelet}

RELEASE_VERSION="v0.16.2"
curl -sSL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/release/${RELEASE_VERSION}/cmd/krel/templates/latest/kubelet/kubelet.service" | sed "s:/usr/bin:${DOWNLOAD_DIR}:g" | sudo tee /usr/lib/systemd/system/kubelet.service
sudo mkdir -p /usr/lib/systemd/system/kubelet.service.d
curl -sSL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/release/${RELEASE_VERSION}/cmd/krel/templates/latest/kubeadm/10-kubeadm.conf" | sed "s:/usr/bin:${DOWNLOAD_DIR}:g" | sudo tee /usr/lib/systemd/system/kubelet.service.d/10-kubeadm.conf

Note:

Please refer to the note in the Before you begin section for Linux distributions that do not include glibc by default.

Install kubectl by following the instructions on Install Tools page.

Optionally, enable the kubelet service before running kubeadm:

sudo systemctl enable --now kubelet

Note:

The Flatcar Container Linux distribution mounts the /usr directory as a read-only filesystem. Before bootstrapping your cluster, you need to take additional steps to configure a writable directory. See the Kubeadm Troubleshooting guide to learn how to set up a writable directory.